Okay, it’s confession time. I’m directionally challenged, but I’m getting out my maps of the world. Will you be my witness and travel companion? From Georgia to Gallup, Greece to Gibraltar, I’m determined to go to my grave without taking another wrong turn.

Goin’ with the Flow

Posted onMay 1, 2011byMaryJane

The earthquake disaster in Japan obscured anything else going on in the world at that time. Even my world stopped (my son, daughter-in-law, and toddler grandson live in Tokyo), but nature didn’t.

Lava flows from the Kilauea volcano on the island of Hawaii. Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Hawaii has been dealing with a burst of activity from one of the world’s most active volcanoes: Kilauea. Pronounced: keel-ah-way-ah

Kilauea Volcano, on Hawaii’s Big Island, has been in constant eruption since 1983, but last March, everything changed. Soon after seismic activity was reported, the floor of the Pu‘u ‘O‘o (PUU-oo oh-oh) crater collapsed some 400 feet and a new fissure opened, spitting lava 80 feet up into the air. (Watch a video of it here.) Since then, Hawaii has needed the help of reinforcements to control wildfires, measure countless earthquakes, and anticipate the threat posed to a nearby rainforest. It all sounds so unlikely and it made me wonder… what else don’t I know about the untamed geography of our 50th state?

For one, the Hawaiian Islands themselves were formed by volcanic eruptions. A hotspot, or hole in the earth’s crust, allowed lava to flow upwards, through the ocean, until an island was formed (Kauai, kah-why-ee). The Pacific plate, on the surface of the earth’s crust, moved the island over, and the Hotspot created another island (Oahu, O-ah-who) next to the first. The process repeated until an entire chain of islands had formed. Some of Hawaii’s volcanoes are now extinct or dormant, but the state is still in a wild state of evolution. In fact, scientists anticipate that we’ll have another Hawaiian island in 10,000 years.

All proceeds (minus shipping and packing) will benefit www.firstbook.org, a non-profit that provides new books to children from low-income families throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Here’s how:

MaryJane will post a photo of the prop and its cost here along with a few details as to its condition. The first person to call the farm and talk with Brian, 208-882-6819, becomes the new owner of a little bit of herstory. Shipping will be either USPS or UPS, our choice. No returns.